Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.com
Monday, Nov. 29, 2004

WHO ARE YOU GONNA CALL?

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The answer is not “Ghostbusters,” but perhaps a new outfit that calls itself “Camophone.”

Campohone’s “Privacy Guard” service fixes it so that you can make calls anywhere to the United States – and you are in control of the Caller ID that is sent to whoever you are calling.

It’s simple, easy – and leaves a very small footprint for anyone to follow.

According to the company’s Web site, the instructions are straightforward enough:

“To make a telephone call, you fill out our simple web form with 1) Phone number of party you are calling, 2) A phone number to reach you, and 3) The Caller ID you wish to send. At the click of a button, the system will call you first, then call the party you are attempting to reach. The called party will receive the caller ID that you specified. The system will then bridge the two calls together. This method is private and untraceable.”

Cool.

But can the average stalker bear the costs?

Sure.

As the company boasts, “Our service costs are less than standard telephone service! Our Privacy Guard service costs only 5 cents per minute. We accept payment through Paypal and credit cards.”

So, Mr. Bill Collector, sign up in seconds on the Net using Paypal or a credit card. You’re ready to rock and roll!

And the party calling under false pretenses need not worry about getting traced. The Camophone Web site is registered to a third-party Web-hosting firm in New Jersey called Registerfly.com, which keeps the identities of customers confidential on the grounds that this protects its users from identity theft, spam and telemarketing calls.

Other companies like Star38.com are a little more circumspect – not to mention responsible – with the power of the tool they are peddling:

“The rules of the game are changing once again, and gone are the days of truly knowing who is on the other end of the telephone. Star38.com’s core service is convenient and simple: We provide a secure, easy-to-use interface to mask your Caller-ID information, so you can appear to be calling from any phone number, anywhere.

“Our innovative technology provides agencies with the ability to substantially reduce the cost and complexity associated with undercover telecommunications. Please note that this service is not available to the general public.

“Due to privacy and security issues Star38.com’s services are only available for official use by law enforcement agencies.”

But even Star38’s standards were not always so pristine. When Star38 launched in September, its decision to market to debt-collection companies generated so much anger among consumers that the small firm quickly changed sales tactics.

Star38 now says that approach was “flawed.”

Bill collectors and stalkers aside, how about those pesky salesmen and saleswomen who call at dinnertime?

Patricia Kachura, vice president of ethics and consumer affairs at the Direct Marketing Association, said using technology to mask a marketer’s identity is illegal under the Telemarketing Sales Rule, which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission, and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which is enforced by the Federal Communications Commission.

Editor's note: